In brief: Man arrested in cannonball death

San Diego – A 39-year-old handyman and explosives enthusiast was arrested Tuesday after a bizarre incident in which his live-in girlfriend was killed when a cannonball rocketed through the couple’s trailer in eastern San Diego County.

Richard Fox, 39, was arrested on charges relating to the negligent discharge of explosives causing injury. Fox’s girlfriend, 38, was killed instantly, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Fox and a friend were loading a homemade cannon with powder from fireworks when it exploded shortly after midnight, sending shrapnel into the trailer where Fox, his girlfriend, and their 4-year-old daughter lived. The child and three other adults in the trailer were unharmed.

Fox, who had been drinking, was burned in the explosion and treated at a local hospital, authorities said.

Fired teacher shoots headmistress, self

Jacksonville, Fla. – A teacher fired from a private school in Florida on Tuesday returned to the campus with a gun hidden in a guitar case and shot the headmistress to death before committing suicide while school was in session, authorities said.

No students were hurt.

Officers responded to the Episcopal School of Jacksonville at 1:23 p.m. Tuesday after receiving reports of a person with a gun, and the school was placed on lockdown. When officers arrived, Dale Regan, head of the school, and the gunman were found dead, Undersheriff Dwain Senterfitt said.

The sheriff’s office identified the gunman as 28-year-old Shane Schumerth. He was a graduate of Purdue University and taught Spanish.